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The Ones Who Got Away

The history of Robert Hansen’s criminal career can be told, in a manner of speaking, through the gaps in his record. Below is a rough chronology of his high-level crimes — and the times he did time for his crimes. Those gaps — when he was off the street — were the few times women felt safe in Anchorage. But this post is (mainly) about something else. It’s about the ones who got away.

Some women escaped a certain death. They got away from him, or he returned them to Anchorage, bruised, battered but alive.

We suspect — we know — that others also got away relatively unscathed. We’re not taking Hansen’s word for it (although he made that claim). There was, for example, an Alaska State Trooper employee who met Hansen through a Sunday Singles ad. She went to his house and left with her honor (and life) intact. A manager at the Wild Cherry topless bar referred to some of her dancers as “Hansen survivors.” So it was possible to survive an encounter with Robert Hansen. They just didn’t know in advance if that was their lucky day.

Below is a list of some of the women we know got away. And a few who likely did not.